knitting and living in Tokyo, Japan

July 09, 2007

So when I was back in Australia, my sister threw me a little baby shower. It was great even though I was only 19 weeks pregnant. It was mainly for my family since I won't see them before I give birth here in Japan. All of the presents were awesome, but one of the stand out gifts was a hand-knit clown by my great aunty Joyce. She is an amazing crafter who is very prolific and makes things that I would never think about making and wouldn't know where to start even if I had the idea.

Clowny even has separate hand knitted pants!! Thanks Aunty Joyce!

So I've been on a bit of a baby knitting roll and luckily I had clowny around to model for me. First I knit up the simple raglan cardigan from Debbie Bliss's Simple Knits for Babies. It was a quick knit (three days) and it was really fun. I'm worried that I'll never want to knit a full-size adult garment ever again. I also added some cute skull embroidery.

close up of embroidery

the cardigan is pretty small and I'm really hoping Dudley isn't a 10 pound baby especially since there'll be no pain relief on offer when I give birth and also because I'd love to see him wear this cardie even just for a couple of weeks!!

I also made the sailboat hat from Itty Bitty Hats in the 0 to 6 month size. I had some leftover Rowan Denim from the Knitty Blu pattern and used it to make this hat.

here's clowny modelling both knits.

I also knit up two pairs of Better-Than-Bootie-Socks from Interweave Knits.

You can see the cable details better when clowny is modelling

These socks were fiddly to knit. You use up just as much energy to knit these as you would adult socks. Don't get me wrong I think they are super cute and I know these will definitely keep dudley's feet warm. They just weren't that much fun to knit. I'll probably make another couple of pairs because they are sure to be better than anything you could buy in a shop!!

Click for pregnancy update with photo! Not sure everyone is that interested in seeing my growing bump!!

June 20, 2007

Guess what?! I have been knitting for reals. I even have an FO for you, but not today as I haven't taken photos yet. Baby knitting rules. So quick. So cute. I really had absolutely NO desire to knit until a couple of weeks ago but now I feel like my knitting mojo is back. Thank goodness.

So I'm 23.5 weeks pregnant, and Dudley kicked me almost constantly yesterday. I thought it was weird until I realized that the band on my maternity jeans was too tight for him. I moved the band and the kicking slowed down. It really is kind of weird when a little person inside of you is telling you your clothes are too tight. As a result I'm wearing very loose fitting clothing. Thanks for the heads up Dudley!

Here is a pic of me at 22 weeks.

It's getting a little heavier and it's harder to do my shoes up bending forward. I used to wake up and my belly would be pretty much flat and then get bigger at night, but now it's big all the time. We can even see Dudley kicking my stomach now - cute! Apart from feeling heavier and slower though, I feel great! It's hot in Tokyo right now and a lot of people have comisserated with me about how tough it is to be pregnant through a Japanese summer, but to tell you the truth I prefer it. Like I need a big coat and heavy shoes on top of this belly/body!!! It's flip flops and summer dresses all the way for me. While I was back in Australia I thought I'd pick up some maternity clothes, but there were NONE. I couldn't believe it. I mean there are maternity shops but the clothes are outrageously overpriced and ugly!!!! And there are a couple of cute stores but they are just EXPENSIVE. So I ended up buying lots of tunic tops to wear with leggings and I also bought men's Rugger shorts from Target in the size 2XL!!!! These are my favourite. They are pefect for pregnant women because they are made for men with skinny legs but gigantic beer bellies.

So hopefully I'll have some FO photos for you tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

June 11, 2007

Wow Dudley just kicked me so hard that I jumped out of my seat at work. It didn't really hurt, but it was surprising and startling. He was really quiet this morning and I got a little worried, so I started poking my belly and he moved around a little, but a couple of this afternoon's kicks are BIG! Clearly making his presence felt. It could also be a reaction to the Snickers bar that I shoved down my throat 30 minutes ago.

It was also my baby daddy's birthday last week. Our celebration was low-key on the day (I baked oatmeal, cranberry and walnut cookies - his favourite), but we turned it up a notch yesterday by drinking ourselves silly with a bunch of friends at our favourite drinking hole in Kichijoji. Of course my selection of drinks was limited to orange juice, soda water and because I felt a little risque - coke!! I even felt a little drunk afterwards...sort of. The power of the mind is amazing.

May 31, 2007

Wow I'm back from Australia and it's nearly June - this year is just flying by. I haven't been posting much lately and I'm not sure why but I've been working on a big project and that might have something to do with it. It's half-finished now so I can share some photos...

BTW, it's not really knitting related....although the knits will be following

Project Dudley (that's what we have been calling the embryo/fetus/baby, although I'm pretty sure we won't be sticking with this name)

Yep I'm pregnant. I can hardly believe it - 20 weeks later! We conceived the baby accidentally on purpose if you know what I mean. I ran out of the pill and one thing leads to another so to speak. So the last four and a half months of my life have involved the following:

book reading (thanks Angie!) although it has been quite limited. I totally overloaded on pregnancy-related information on the internet during the 1st trimester and that was my biggest mistake. I had a hard time emotionally and had convinced myself something terrible was going to happen. There are LOTS of sad stories on the internet. My morning sickness was not too bad. I constantly felt nauseous and dizzy but never threw up. I was tired a lot and burst into tears a number of times for no reason at traffic lights. My morning sickness finally abated at about 14/15 weeks and I felt like a new person. So much renewed energy. I could go finally go shopping. Although not for baby goods, I was still too superstitious.

Another pregnant lady at work gave me this badge. It's not the official Tokyo Metro one, but one that is given out by our health insurance company. I wear it on my bag to work. At 15 weeks people started standing up for me on the train. I find that older people are much more aware of my 'condition' and are more than eager to give up their seats even though I'm not about to take the seats of people who need to sit down more than me. Young people are the worst especially young working men - they always pretend to be asleep and wouldn't think about giving up their seat.

Here is my mother and baby book that is given out by the city where you live in Japan. I felt like a real pregnant person with a valid pregnancy once I got my book. You can collect one from the city hall once they confirm your baby's heartbeat. They had an english version but the Japanese version was much cuter so I opted for the Japanese one.

And here are just a few of the EIGHT ultrasounds I've had during the first half of my pregnancy. My pregnancy has been pretty textbook so far, but the Japanese love to give you ultrasounds. Since I haven't been pregnant before I just followed their advice, but next time I don't think I would have this many. It made me worry more sometimes. Especially in the early, early stages.

So that's my big news. Unfortunately after I got pregnant I didn't want to do anything at all, especially knitting so it has fallen by the wayside. I have a couple of projects in mind though so hopefully my knitting mojo will be on the road to recovery soon. Congrats to all the otherexpectantcraftyladies out there!! I know of a couple of others but they haven't made their blog announcements yet so I'll keep mum. And a big congrats to Erin and JD who just welcomed their bundle of joy - Flynn into the world.

We'll be having the baby in Tokyo, so that'll be an experience in itself. I'm worried of course - mainly about the cultural differences. My doctor has already kind of 'shown great surprise' at the size of my belly compared with Japanese women, but that's the least of my worries.

Oh and you want to see a belly shot. Do you think I look big for 20 weeks? I think I look thick - ha! I like how my butt has grown in equal proportions to my belly (in sympathy perhaps??).